Adolescent Pregnancy in Costa Rica

In this chapter on Costa Rica, national reports and studies will be presented that describe a country that takes pride in its trajectory of democratic and peaceful history. In this context, the decisions regarding adolescent sexuality and pregnancy are challenging the nation to live up to democratic standards. Meeting the challenge, Costa Rica has entered into international agreements for the advancement of human rights, social justice, and gender equity, with particular relevance to the phenomenon of adolescent pregnancy in Costa Rica. Among these agreements, the United Nations (U.N.) Convention on Children Rights was ratified in 1990 (Law no. 7184) and the Optional Protocol to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was approved in 2001 (Law no. 8089). The challenges of adolescent pregnancy in Costa Rica are formidable. In 2008, there were 15 children 11 years or younger who had babies, and in 2009, there were eight. Girls 12–14 years of age delivered 669 babies in 2008 and 697 in 2009. Minors 15–17 had 7,242 babies in 2008 and 7,084 in 2009. Of additional, concern is the number of sexual partners of teenage girls who are much older than the girls themselves. This is especially troubling because pregnancy and birth among very young adolescent girls 14 years of age or younger can signal illicit sexual violence and exploitation that needs to be investigated. Costa Rica has a rich legislative, organizational, public policy, and programmatic base for advancement in the areas of prevention and effective intervention regarding adolescent pregnancy and maternity. This progress is huge and clearly identifies the resolution of its people not only to address issues of adolescent sexuality and pregnancy, but of the complexity of the cultural, social, economic, and human rights matters that these issues encompass.